LinkedIn ProFinder: Top Marketing Tips for Your Small Business

May 8, 2017

For National Small Business Week, Kabbage interviewed LinkedIn ProFinder on Twitter to discuss effective marketing strategies, both online and offline, and how much effort to put into them as well as measuring their effectiveness. For those who were unable to catch the chat, check out their advice below!

For businesses just starting out, what are a few quick wins to create an effective marketing strategy?

@KabbageInc A quick win for effective marketing strategy includes creating a strong plan before jumping into tactics! To make a plan, define your audience, list their challenges and outline how you’re solving them. Then draft a tactical channel plan to reach your audience. A few minutes of planning can save you hours in execution. A well thought-out strategy can be a great win, to begin with!

What are the top social media platforms small businesses should be on since there are so many?

@KabbageInc Social platform presence depends on your business and where your audience is. For eg: if your product is best showcased visually, think Instagram or Pinterest. Visual channels need access to high quality design/photography. Don’t jump in w/o that. For B2B, 92% of marketers use LinkedIn & get 80% of their social leads from it.

How do you know if your social media strategy is working? What are the key metrics to focus on?

@KabbageInc Social success depends on your goals. Initial signals can be engagement – likes, shares. A key question is your social mktg leading to the desired action? Are people buying? A combination of post engagement & impact to business is key to measure social media success.

How do you know if you should hire someone externally to run your marketing?

@KabbageInc Freelancing is great for expert knowledge/seasonal help but make sure there’s a balance. Eg: Outsource for expertise like SEO or when you need more hands on deck to scale faster

How much of your time spent on your business should be spent on marketing efforts?

@KabbageInc Per a @Constantcontact survey, small business owners spend 20 hours a week on marketing. Think about marketing 24/7. But how much time you invest depends on the stage of business. Eg: If your product is in good shape, invest more on marketing. If not, focus on that first.

What is an interesting or unique marketing strategy you’ve seen that was effective?

@Kabbageinc @Mailchimp’s “Did you mean” campaign launched fake brands in a strategic & whacky way. Fake brands, Jailblimp, Failchips..caught people’s attention and piqued curiosity. It was a clever SEO play too. Look them up online & Google will ask if you meant MailChimp.

@KabbageInc offline mktg is still relevant and can bring balance your digital channels

What’s a good strategy to encourage customers to leave reviews for your business?

@KabbageInc For reviews, never pay customers, it’s poor form. Get the experience to compel reviews. To encourage reviews, offer access to an exclusive group that’s invited to VIP events/previews.

LinkedIn ProFinder LinkedIn’s platform to find the best quality freelancers across business needs like marketing, design, accounting and more. If you’re looking for marketing support, start your search on ProFinder and take the project from your to-do list to done!

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Kabbage is here not only to provide access to the small business funding you need, but to also help you grow your business through free marketing tips, webinars, tools and more. Is there something you'd like us to cover or want to get your small business featured on our blog? Send us a note at content@kabbage.com.